Copley’s Fox Hill estate in La Jolla sold to Doug Manchester for $17 million

The Foxhill estate in La Jolla, formerly owned by the Copley Publishing Family at 7007 Country Club Drive, was sold Aug. 6 for $17 million to Manchester Foxhill, LLC.

The property, listed by Greg Noonan & Associates, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties was originally priced at $25 million in February 2015. The buyer was represented by Andy Nelson, president and CEO of Willis Allen Real Estate.

“Foxhill is a magnificent, unique jewel in La Jolla, with panoramic sea views and eight acres of vast lawns, orchards, rose and cutting gardens, and more. No one would even believe the treasure chest of luxuries found inside those gates,” said Noonan. “It has been a tremendous honor to represent the property, the sales proceeds of which will benefit charities right here in San Diego according to David Copley’s wishes.”

Of the purchase Manchester said, “This is an opportunity to return to the Muirlands (in La Jolla) in an unparalleled setting originally built by Jim Copley.” Manchester, who built a La Jolla home not far from there 30 years ago, sold it in 1990.

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The French country-style manor, the crowning the pinnacle of the Country Club neighborhood, was home was built in 1959, and has handcrafted woodwork, a paneled library office and a formal dining room with a hand-painted mural and built-in cabinetry. There are seven bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms. A guesthouse, pool pavilion, staff quarters and a fitness/center office are included in the 20,000-square-feet of living space.

A swimming pool, a greenhouse, a garden shed, garages for 12 cars and an entry gatehouse are also on the acreage. Orchards, terraced gardens, lawns and walkways complete the manicured grounds.

Fox Hill owners, James and Helen Copley, were publishers of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Their son, David C. Copley (who died at age 60 in 2012 without heirs) sold the paper to the Platinum Equity Group in 2009.

“Papa” Doug Manchester bought the Union-Tribune from Platinum in 2011 and earlier this year sold it to Tribune Publishing (parent company of the Los Angeles Times). The transaction also included the La Jolla Light, part of the U-T Community Press Group.

Although those in attendance at the new Safe, Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative (SHNI) meeting Sept. 4 in the La Jolla Library were seeking local solutions to the homelessness they’ve observed in their neighborhoods, they were met instead with broader City- and County-wide resources that address the varied facets of this very complex issue.

Sitting at the Brick & Bell coffee shop in La Jolla Shores on Sept. 4 with local residents Sandra Munson and Tim Johnson as they catch up over iced teas, one would never know that just three weeks prior, the two were undergoing surgery so Munson could donate a kidney to Johnson.